Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters from Star Wars, except for the Zabarak. The other and the universe all belong to George Lucas.

A/N: Hello everyone. It's been a while since I've written a Star Wars fanfic, but I've always wanted to do one concerning my second favorite character Jacen Solo. I've loved the guy since Traitor and have imagined what had occured between his 'conversion' and the arrival of Ganer. But I've been reluctant to write till the end of the Legacy of the Force series. If you haven't read the series there might/will be spoilers such as Jacen becoming the Sith Lord Cadeus. Also, I haven't read the last book Invicible, unless you count reading the very end. And let's just say making him totally crazy and then dying in the end ticked me off enough to post my own version of the end.

And so I present this story. It will be taking place after Invicible with a different take on the end and the series in general. Also, there will be flashbacks to when he was among the Vong and that major gap of those missing 5 years. Well, enough of this long Author's Note.

Read Between the Lines

Chapter 1: Paying for one's crimes

A single condemned man marched down the dim lit corroding halls with two massive masked Mandolorian warriors flanking his sides. His bare feet were ghosts over the well-traveled gravel passage. Tattered black clothes hung on his slim frame like veins over a tree. The scarred skin underneath depicted untold stories of suffering from both alien and his own hands. The weary, grimy skin was pulled tautly over cracked hands that were bound behind his back with glowing blue cuffs. Hands that had saved and destroyed the universe, they belonged to a disillusioned god…a fallen mortal. Once long, brown locks caked in dried blood had been hacked away into a short, wild bush. Yet, even then, despite everything that had stripped this convict of everything he had known, those eyes shimmered in unspeakable light.

His eyes told a story. When times were innocent, they were bright with laughter and a desire for all that was good. Then the veil was ripped away with uncaring claws, making them witness painful lies and truths: the true form of life. Lastly, the eyes witnessed every accusing glare from his remaining loved ones as he slowly descended into madness. Now a mere shell of his former self, the eyes were back to their regular brown color but no longer shone with humanity. If one looked closely, golden flecks still glowed like embers stating to the world that he was very much alive.

The trio came to a slow halt at the end of the corridor, where even rats feared to go. This desolate section of the prison housed the most dangerous, villainous criminals in the entire galaxy. Cut off not only from the world, but also from the rest of the prison, these men were left to rot for the rest of their life in a square cell with the meagerness of objects. A hard metal cot, one tiny sink with a trickle of water coming from the faucet and a hole as an excuse for a toilet. It was not that entirely different from his apartment back in Corescant, where every furnishing was of the simplest design and manufacture. His time spent in wandering and capture had washed away all taste for the luxuries.

The single massive brown metal door was opened, the room waiting patiently for its' new occupant. Two brown-cloaked figures and a black-jump suit figure stepped out of the darkness. The one dressed in black stepped forward into the light revealing the jagged scar over his regal brow. The cropped black military hair gleamed harshly in the flickering light.

"You ready to pay for your sins, Darth Cadeus?" The deep, soothing voice of the soldier vibrated down the passages.

Devil eyes blink once as thin, pale lips curled upwards. "For the time being," hissed a cold voice from the face.

A pain filled voice filtered out into the hallway. "Jag, wait out here."

Jagged Fel turned slightly, yet still fixed his own cold gaze on the murderer's face. "Yes sir."

Cadeus sidestepped Jag and walked with slow measured steps into his new home. All the while, the fighter pilot kept his stony gaze on the fallen Sith. Cadeus in turn, tilted his head into a slight bow and blinked once more at the man before stepping fully into the cell leaving behind the two guards.

"The center, back towards the wall and kneel."

The Sith did as he was told, lowering himself onto bruised and cut legs. Straightening his back, Cadeus stared out ahead with a stony expression down the hallway he had just walked down. He knew that it would be the last time he would see such a sight...for now.

The view was cut short when a short figure with horns crowning his baldhead stepped into the light. Orange eyes of the Zabarak shone with justice yet it was nothing compared to the haloing light surrounding the man who stepped completely in front of him. Blue eyes fought to hide the distress that was tearing the man apart inside. The eldest man would need his companions strength for what he was about to do.

"Jacen…" cracked the voice.

Cadeus let his lips curl in disgust. "Do not call me by such a weakling name, Skywalker."

The sand-blond hair shook silently as the Jedi Master gathered up the power of the Force. "Please, let yourself be saved."

"Even after finding out I killed your beloved Mara, you wish to save me." Cadeus chuckled in his throat. "I highly doubt that. Besides." Shrugging his recently dislocated shoulders sending thousands of voltages of pain sparking down his body, the man who was once Jacen Solo let his gaze be uninterrupted as he swept in the confines of the cell. "I do not feel sorry for what I had to do. It was necessary to ensure the safety of the galaxy for a longer time than your Republic." Shifting those coal eyes back on Luke, Cadeus let all false pretenses be dropped and showed his true face. A face that was etched from ice by the chisel of hatred and the hammer of twisted purpose, the fuel of pain driving the tools forward. "I am not the villain. In time, the memories of my actions will be viewed as heroic."

Luke Skywalker took in a shuddering breath and raised his hand. Facing his palm at Jacen, the fingers spread out wiping away any doubt from the Jedi Master's face. "Then may the Force have mercy on your soul."

The Force exploded from Luke's hand like a massive drill, making the man a mere conduit of the massive power. A power that left the other Jedi gaping in pure awe and fear that such a single man could handle it all. Over the roaring of a mini-wind storm that had been born, the Zabarak's gaze sealed shut when a lash of Darkness whipped out of Jacen Solo flying aimlessly into the recesses of the Force. The body arched, eyes squeezing shut as the mouth let out a silent scream. Stretching out with his extra sense, the Jedi felt the tremendous feat that was occurring before him. He had never witnessed a stripping before. First, he heard a small thud, nothing much.

Then it came. A huge sonic blast tore away everything known. The exploding raw power of the Dark Side isn't what the young Jedi expected. It was suppose to be filled with pure animalistic rage and an unbridled passion for power.

But instead…

It was laced with grief for strangers, encircled with unyielding determination. A Sith was suppose to create chaos, not prevent further destruction. The wave contained too many contradictions, too much gray between light and dark. But beneath all the facades, the truth of the Dark Side was revealed. It flourished on pain. It didn't care if the pain is self-inflected or from another person. It needed pain to survive, to strengthen its grip on its chosen tool.

The Dark Side lashed out, trying to keep its' poisonous talons on the kneeling figure. It finally had gained totally control over the soul, pushing the rational mind into spinning madness. Cadeus had been born in the burning ashes of Jacen Solo. A wave of unaltered rage swelled in the Force. It wouldn't give up so easily.

Yet the Dark Side hadn't been prepared for this fallen soul. Cadeus might have been in present in the last battle, but something had happened in the days following the capture. An illness spread into the newborn, weakening the madding exposure to the darkness. Sanity was returning. Jacen was breathing fresh air.

Luke sensed a flicker of an old presence. The Light Side wavered in the pure shock radiating from the Jedi Master. Then something happened that banished the ember of hope. Sanity killed Irrationality in brutal murder. Cadeus screamed as snakes of hatred slashed the dark persona into oblivion. The Dark Side seemed to screech with its' creation and when all was said and done, the last holds fluttered away like ripped fabric in the wind. Before it traveled too far, a presence reached out and grabbed onto it tightly. The Dark Side shuddered in pleasurable fear that this soul wouldn't yield to the pain but embraced it like a lover. Golden eyes snapped open as the Dark Side rushed forward and wrapped itself protectively around Jacen. Cadeus might be gone, but not all of its' plans had been destroyed. It should have known that the original host would be the perfect candidate.

"Not again," hissed a dark, thunderous voice in the Force.

The Jedi Master took a step back in surprise at the turn of events. Luke braced himself further, submerging himself deeper into the Light. "Goodbye."

Jacen's golden eyes widened in awe and fear. A supernova of light filled the room and the Light Side of the Force banished every single trace of darkness. The blinding power lasted only for a few minutes and when it phased back to dusk, a void marked the figure's place in the Force. In front, Luke was panting hard, his face looking decades older.

Wiping sweat off his brow, Luke gazed down at the prisoner who was lying on his back. "Your era of chaos has come to an end, Cadeus."

Instead of meeting the suspected silence, the man who was once Cadeus erupted into hacking laughter. "It only has begun, Jedi."

Luke clenched his fist, desperation flashing on his face, "Enough is enough. The Sith will no longer harm this galaxy."

Jacen propped himself upright and pushed himself up against the wall. Rising one leg up to rest an arm on his knee, the ex-Sith Lord looked up at the Jedi Master. "Do not call me Sith. I am neither now, thanks to you."

The younger Jedi felt his mouth drop slightly open at the vague wording coming from the condemned man. This was not the rambling, cursing, arrogant Cadeus that he had kept guard duty over for the past few days. Who was sitting the cell was someone entirely. The Jedi shifted his gaze over to Master Skywalker, whose narrowed features showed that he too had caught onto the difference.

"Jacen," whispered Luke.

Tilting his head upwards, cold brown eyes that were the opposite of the burning gold orbs soaked in the ceiling. "I must thank you on freeing me...but, I am who I am, call me Cadeus or Jacen it makes no difference now."

Luke nodded slightly as he began to turn. Just as he finished and was about to motion to his fellow companion, Jacen's voice purred in the cell. "I've been stripped before, this is only a hindrance for me, Luke." A meaningful pause filled in the silence to injure the master in telling that his actions were futile. ""You know this place won't hold me for forever."

The young Jedi saw Luke's lips thinning and something snapped in him. Can't the madman see that Master Skywalker was on the verge of breaking? The Zabark couldn't help but glare at the young man and snarl. "It will hold you long enough, for you to learn the error of your ways or die of old age."

Jacen Solo locked his dark gaze on the Zabark and the horned-creature saw his reflection on the surface. Even without any powers, this mere human still oozed with unending darkness. He flashed that famous Solo smirk, only its' twisted and holds no joy. "Righteous fury. I remember when I took that step."

The young knight wanted to counter, but Luke's voice cuts through.

"Do not listen, he only speaks in lies now."

Nodding to signal that he took in the order, the Zabark turned his back on the man, but without glancing once more at those eyes that watched every moment with a predator's ferocity. The eyes shimmered in full insanity yet not the type that was lunacy. No, it was the type that was quiet and resourceful, the type where the insane think they are sane.

As the two Jedi leave, the cell door slamming shut, the Zabark can't help but remember stealing glances at Jacen when he was at the Temple back in the day. He was so full of life and love. But now, this new Jacen who rose from the crumbling mask of Darth Cadeus was different. He had a bad feeling about this. The march back was filled in silence and when the group broke through the surface the young Jedi couldn't help but halt and take in a deep, cleansing breath. Jag shot a confused look at him but Luke gently told the man to fire up the engines. The two Jedi stood in the sun, soaking up its' warm rays.

After a few seconds of silence, Luke placed a hand on the brave, young Jedi. "Ready?"

The Zabark nodded, sending a steady smile to his hero. "Yep. Let's go save the galaxy." As they entered, the Zabark couldn't help but walk away with a new insight into life and Force itself. One cannot use the darkness without getting tainted by it, no matter who they are; even the purest lights cast the darkest shadows.

--

A/N: Well, I hope that this chapter was up to your expectations. I wasn't sure if to post this as a one-shot or branch out and create a story. I'm leaning towards the story, so hopefully I can update this guy soon. Thanks for reading and reviews are always appreciated. Take care!